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Tuesday, October 7, 2008

There Is A Difference Between Being Androgynous and Transgender: Black Voices Gets It Wrong

Intersectionality is something that I am very passionate about. As a WOC I have come to understand how the different social stigmatizations interact to effect my life. Many in the black community continue to advocate against racism while at the same time participating in homophobia, trans hate and sexism as though it is not all fruit from the same poisonous tree. All of the isms are related and all have an effect on people of colour. There is no such thing as a monolithic representative of blackness and therefore when we refuse to speak out about an ism we are participating in the othering of POC.

BlackVoices.com takes an up-close and intimate look at how androgyny has crossed into mainstream entertainment culture via the work and depictions of transgendered people, transvestites, transsexuals, cross-dressers and gay icons. Sometimes dramatic, sometimes comedic, and often-times jarring, these gender-bending images leaves a lasting impression on all who bore witness. Take a gander.

Someone who is transgender is not androgynous, they have a specific gender to which they identify with. The idea that there has been some great transcendence because of two people being "granted" a chance to appear on reality TV is ridiculous.

When we can see trans women and men on television daily without any need to comment, that is transcendence. When they are not depicted as poor confused creatures that need to be pitied that is transcendence. When they are not overwhelmingly played by cis people that is transcendence. The idea that it is suddenly cool or hip to be transgender in our society is ridiculous.

If you are going to write about the transgender experience it should behove you to understand even just the basics. Gender identity and sexuality are two separate things. Gender is in reference to whether they are identifying as male or female or even gender butch; whereas sexuality can run the gambit from straight, gay, bi, or even asexual. There is no connection between the two different sets of identity beyond the fact that if you identify outside of the cisexist heterosexual characterization, you are existing as an othered, marginalized body.

Finally please explain to me what the hell a gay icon is? The very idea of it is ridiculous. I suppose because of Ellen, the L Word and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, homosexuality has gone mainstream? Think again. This is all about performing acceptable homosexuality, and not about accepting the idea that sexuality is fluid. If you are gay and happen to be white, middle to upper class and never show any visible affection to someone of the same sex beyond hand holding, maybe just maybe you can be acceptable for prime time. I also find it disturbing that all of these so-called icons and role models are expected to perform gayness, that's right perform. As long as someone who is lesbian or homosexual is acting like what straight people believe a "real gay person" acts like (you know playing up the stereotypes) then it is acceptable.

I am sure that The Blackvoices would like to have a cookie for bothering to engage when so many have not, but if your engagement only serves to maintain misrepresentation then you might as well have remained silent.

Somewhere on Bilerico, someone commented that the AA community is racist against white people because there's apparently a belief that being LGBT is a white thing - I don't know how accurate that is (and don't want to imply that I know) but I found it telling that he was unable to identify it as homophobia or transphobia (erasing the African-American LGBT people entirely) rather than any kind of racism (no institutional power to back actual racism in the first place, white people aren't harmed by assuming black LGBT people don't exist).

Ugh, the "androgynous" label pisses me off to no end, especially because it always seems to come from cis people *trying* to be helpful.

I was in a "Sex and Gender Across Cultures" class trying to explain the concept of "cisgender" to my (feminist) professor and a cis classmate felt the need to butt in and try to clarify what I meant, calling transgendered people androgynous in the process.

I guess I want to add that I really wanted to call him on it, but the class was already pissed off at me for bringing up violence against transpeople during a discussion about gendered violence. In fact, another guy in the class openly said that he'd react violently if he found out that a sex partner was a transsexual.

I was honestly too scared at that point to want to step on people's toes any more, but I also feel bad because by allowing my classmate to say "androgynous" in his seeming agreement with my views, I probably made others think it was okay.

I tend not to leave a response, but after reading a few of the remarks here "There Is A Difference Between Being Androgynous and Transgender: Black Voices Gets It Wrong".I actually do have a couple of questions for you if it's allright. Could it be simply me or does it appear like a few of the responses appear like they are written by brain dead people? :-P And, if you are writing at other places, I'd like to keep up with anything new you have to post.Would you list of the complete urls of your social sites like your Facebook page, twitter feed, or linkedin profile?

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I hardly leave a response, but i did some searching and wound up here "There Is A Difference Between Being Androgynous and Transgender: Black Voices Gets It Wrong".And I do have 2 questions for you if you don't mind. Is it just me or does it look like some of the responses appear like coming from brain dead people? :-P And, if you are writing on additional places, I would like to keep up with everything new you have to post. Could you make a list of all of all your shared pages like your linkedin profile, Facebook page or twitter feed?

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About Me

I am the mother of two darling little boys that fill my life with hope. They have inspired me to help raise awareness of the issues that plague this little blue planet.
If you are looking for a blog that is all about how wonderful and rosy this world is, turn right because this space will not be for you. I am a committed humanist. I believe in the value of people over commodities. I believe in the human right to food, clothing, shelter, and education. I am pacifist, anti-racist, WOC. My truth may not be your truth, but I intend to speak it nonetheless.
Please feel free to direct questions or commentary womanistmusings@gmail.com